Treasure what you value. Dispatches on survival and resilience

In this collection of essays, writer, critic, poet, and artist John Berger (1926–2017) reflects on the horrors of modern wars, terrorism, and the nature of overwhelming despair. On the pages of the book, he shows us the lives of people for whom this feeling has become a faithful companion – the poor and refugees from Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Syria – and invites us to share their mourning for the freedom forcibly taken away. Referring to the plots of films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the works of Francis Bacon, the photographs of Ahlam Shibli and Yitka Hanzlova, and recalling “Regarding the Pain of Others” by Susan Sontag, Berger analyzes how art as a tool of resistance against repressive policies can help achieve victory over pain, fear, and hatred.